How much does it cost to fix my car’s peeling clear coat at Service King North OKC in Oklahoma City OK?

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from our customers at Service King North OKC here in Oklahoma City OK is, “What is the price to fix the peeling clear coat of paint on my car?” Before I throw a number at you let me explain a little bit about what the problem is.

What is peeling clear coat?

Our paint salesmen and other body shops in the Oklahoma City area call it “Paint delamination” because what is happening is the clear coat layer is actually flaking off of the basecoat below it. If it’s ever happened to you, then you know how frustrating it can be to look at every day.

Starting in the 1990’s car manufacturers started painting their cars with a two stage painting system. The first layer of paint is called the base coat, and then layers of clear coat were sprayed on top of the base coat. This allowed for a much deeper gloss with less paint than the previous single stage urethanes produced.

Why does clearcoat peel?

Even though the paint is a solvent based chemical and the clear coat should bond to the base coat, it can become compromised by something as simple as a scratch or nick and then over time, water, and lots of sun like we get here in Oklahoma City, the clear coat starts to become chalky and cloudy and then begins to flake.

Sometimes poor quality repaint jobs are to blame. For example if the car has ever had any auto body work done or paint work done, the repainted areas could be peeling. Usually when this happens it is because of a bad preparation problem from the person doing the painting.